Public Health Nutrition

The field of public health nutrition seeks to understand the complex causes of malnutrition, including both over and under-nutrition, and the consequences of malnutrition on growth, development, communicable and non-communicable disease, and economic productivity through the life course and across generations.

Public health nutrition also concerns itself with the development and evaluation of programs and policies to improve diets and nutritional status. The public health nutrition practitioner requires a solid understanding of the biology of nutrition, the individual, community and socio-political determinants of dietary intakes and nutritional status, and the principles of program and policy design, implementation, and evaluation. As such, the public health nutrition concentration takes a broad perspective with respect to both content and methodological approaches to equip students for careers in public health nutrition. Graduates can use these skills to serve government agencies, the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, applied research institutions, and universities in the U.S. and globally.

Practica opportunities and thesis projects are often conducted in conjunction with ongoing faculty research projects and/or with nutrition programs implemented by government agencies, international NGOs, or community-based organizations.

In addition to the department requirements outlined here, this concentration requires: a methods course in nutritional assessment and a combination of nutrition courses based on areas of interest (maternal and child nutrition, food security, chronic disease prevention, etc). Please see table below:

Courses Required

GH 545

Nutritional Assessment (Spring)

Select one course from the life course nutrition group below

GH 534

Diabetes: A model for Global non-communicable Disease Prevention and Control (Spring)

GH 546

Maternal and Child Nutrition

GH 551

Diet and Chronic Disease

GH 552

Global Elimination of Micronutrient Malnutrition

GH 579

Non-communicable Diseases Prevention and Control

Select one course from the research/program methods group below

GH 567

Shaping Healthy Food Systems through Policy (Alt Spring)

GH 568

Community Engaged Food Security (Alt Spring)

EPI 537

Epidemiology of Chronic Disease (Fall)

EPI 591L

Methods in Nutrition Epidemiology

Suggested Electives

Course NumberCourse Title

GH 502

Survey Methods

GH 503

Applied Survey Methodology

GH 515

Transforming Public Health Surveillance

GH 522

Qualitative Research Methods

GH 525

Qualitative Data Analysis

GH 538

Food and Nutrition in Humanitarian Emergencies

GH 543

Fundamentals of Qualitative Data Analysis

GH 546

Maternal and Child Nutrition

GH 555

Proposal Development

GH 560

Monitoring and Evaluating Global Health Programs

GH 548*

Human Nutrition I (cross-listed IBS 580)

GH 549*

Human Nutrition II (cross-listed IBS 581)

GH 580

Control of Food and Waterborne Diseases

Epi 544

Epidemiology of Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases

NRSG 614

Human Lactation and Breastfeeding Management

*Courses designed primarily for the PHD program in Nutrition and Health Sciences that would be appropriate for students seeking fundamental courses in nutritional biochemistry or metabolism and the clinical aspects of nutrition

Public Health Nutrition Faculty

Read about faculty who teach public health nutrition courses or conduct research in this concentration area by clicking on the names below.